Back home (St. Louis, Florissant, Chesterfield: condos, townhouses, neighborhood)

[Coowguy]

I have recently moved back to the St. Louis area after being gone for over a decade and my wife and I are trying to find a nice place to live. Our house budget is relatively small at around $100K-$125k. We don't mind living in a somewhat racially diverse neighborhood but I don't want our son to be in the minorty at his schools.

Any suggestions?

[flynavyj]

Wife and i recently bought a home in St. Ann. It's a fairly diverse area. If you get into the Pattonville school side of things, you'll have an affordable home with a good school district, ritneour side isn't "bad" but it isn't as desirable. The home prices will be cheaper most likely, and the school is pretty diverse, but the school district not as favored.

Check the hazelwood areas also, and north into florisant. My cousin just bought a house in florisant (close to black jack) for about 100k. and I would assume he's in the Hazelwood school district also.

forgot to say it, welcome home!

[BoomBoxing]

Welcome back! You have more options than you probably realize at that price point. Assuming that you are set on public schools, you can find a good home in north county for that price (2-3 br), or an ok or fixer upper type home in south county. The school districts are better in south county and it's a bit safer, but you might have a harder time finding the perfect home in that area. But honestly, if you are willing to get a house that's a fixer upper you have a lot of good options to choose from, and if you are willing to do private schools or magnet schools, don't forget about south city either.

You can definitely get a good house for that price on the Illinois side, but from what I understand, the property taxes over there are quite a bit higher.

[DinsdalePirahna]

my brother in law is moving from Florrisant/Hazelwood because his kid is the only white kid in his class. My nephew gets along fine with the black kids, most of his friends are black but he would much rather be in a district that is at least 50/50. They are moving to O'Fallon at the end of this school year.

Kind of puts things in perspective on how black kids feel when they wind up in mostly white districts, even when they are accepted as equals.

I hope this doesn't come across as racist.

[Azalea City Man]

The houses in Dogtown can't average more than 120k can they? I am not an expert on STL housing prices or schooling, but that is where I'd recommend. Heck, I even saw a fixer upper in Brentwood for 80k this past summer and your child (assuming not a minority) would by no means at all be a minority there.

Take what I have to say in jest, however. We have sparingly looked in STL (as far as buying) and actually plan on buying elsewhere in the nation when moving eventually.

[Azalea City Man]

Originally Posted by DinsdalePirahna

I hope this doesn't come across as racist.

I'm sure black kids would not want to go to a 95% white school, just as white kids would not want to go to a 95% black school. It will hardly ever be 50/50, but it's good when schools can acheive at least a 70/30 white/black or black/white ratio.

I used to teach at a 95% black school, and it was awkward enough to be a white teacher. I would do it again in a heartbeat though, as I enjoyed every day of the work.

[DinsdalePirahna]

Originally Posted by oscottscotto

I'm sure black kids would not want to go to a 95% white school, just as white kids would not want to go to a 95% black school. It will hardly ever be 50/50, but it's good when schools can acheive at least a 70/30 white/black or black/white ratio.

I used to teach at a 95% black school, and it was awkward enough to be a white teacher. I would do it again in a heartbeat though, as I enjoyed every day of the work.

Can't argue with that.

[zach_33]

Dogtown is in StL public schools. I have never heard anything good about StL public schools (except for the handful of outstanding magnet schools). Coowguy - you like urban or suburban? If you were looking for something more urban, or at least inner-ring suburban, you might look at Lindbergh schools (Crestwood), Webster Schools (most likely in Rock Hill or Shrewsbury), or possibly even Maplewood Richmond Heights (I have heard mixed reviews on this district, but I heard it is improving and Maplewood is a neat area). If suburban is more your thing then you might go Pattonville (Maryland Heights/St. Ann) or even Rockwood (Fenton, Eureka). You won't find a big place in a good school district for $125, but if you can live with something modest (say 2/3 bed, 1/1.5 bath) then you have a lot of choices.

[billiken]

Just with a few minutes of looking, it seems you could find:
-2bd/1bath or even larger SFH in many areas of South County
-Newer SFH in Hazlewood/Florissant (don't know too much about this area, other than I think it's the nicer area of North County)
-Townhouses/Condos in Webster Groves, Kirkwood, Ballwin, Wildwood, Creve Coeur, Chesterfield, etc. (Basically all very safe suburbs with good schools).